Jealous brother hacks sibling to death

BY DONALD ARJI & KUNLE KALEJAYE
Policemen attached to Ilemba Hausa division have arrested a 30-year-old man who allegedly stabbed his brother, a Merchant Navy to death while he was asleep.

The incident, occurred at the early hours of Wednesday morning at Oritse Street in Imude community, under Oto-Awori local development council area of Lagos.

After allegedly committing the devilish deed, the suspect, Allen Biodun, 30, reportedly dragged the remains of his brother, Allen Olawale Ayetimi,24,toan uncompleted building behind their compound and dumped it inside the foundation of the building,covered it with leaves.Thereafter he quietly went to his room and took his late brother’s ATM card, his Merchant navy uniform and phone.

Late Olawale and his brother Biodun

Crime Guard gathered that the deceased only returned from an official trip to Port Harcourt at about 11pm Tuesday. Although, the late Olawale was based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. But his mission to his family’s house as reliably gathered, was to settle a score between his elder brother and mother.

Neighbours who referred to Biodun as a terror in the area, alleged that he was also responsible for the death of his father two years ago. He was alleged to have poisoned his father’s food in order to take over his three-bedroom bungalow as inheritance.

After his father’s death, Biodun reportedly chased his mother and siblings out of the main building,giving them the two shops in front o f the house.

Noone, could however tell whether there was any scuffle between Olawale and his elder brother on his arrival. But Crime Guard gathered that there had been a lingering dispute between the duo. Sources attributed the dispute to petty jealousy which could be likened to that of the biblical Cain and Abel story.

The death of their father as gathered, saddled Olawale with the responsibility of catering for members of his family, since he was the only one who was working among them. Unknown to him, his good will did not go down well with his elder brother, who on the other hand, reportedly resorted to buglary and bullying as a means of survival.

At other times, Biodun reportedly did menial jobs. But the fear of Biodun in the environment was the beginning of wisdom.

“After the death of his father, he took to burglary. Everybody is afraid of him in the street. The only thing people did was to close their doors or even enter their rooms whenever they see him coming. Even if you see him stealing your property, you have no option than to beg him to return them because if you shout at him, he will beat you and nobody will come to your rescue”, a resident said, when Crime Guard visited.

Another possible reason attributed to the seeming ‘cold war’ between the duo as gathered, followed Olawale’s refusal to sometimes meet with Biodun’s financial demand, an action the latter took as intimidation and disrespect on his person.

Journey to death

On arrival from Port Harcourt that fateful day, Olawale reportedly washed his uniform, took his bath and shared a brief moment with his mother and siblings in the shop they were confined to,during which he informed them that his mission home was to convince his brother to accept them back into the main building,unaware that he would never live to see his mission accomplished. Before retiring to his bedroom which he shared with his elder brother, Olawale was said to have instructed one of his sisters to boil water for him to bath the next morning.

But apprehension set in at about 7am Wednesday, after his sister went to inform him that the hot water was ready, only to discover his blood stained clothes on the floor,without any sight of him. As she was about to leave the room, she reportedly met Biodun, who informed her that Olawale had gone to the bank. Unsure of what to do, his sister, reportedly alerted her mother who raised an alarm that created a scene in front of the building.

At that moment, a neighbour identified as Mr Sunday Abogunrin, disclosed to the gathering that he saw Biodun hours back, dragging something on the ground. Their greatest fear was confirmed when Biodun bolted at the verge of being questioned about the whereabouts of his younger brother. Noone,could at first run after him, apparently unsure of what he could be up to. It only took the efforts of a man among the crowd to catch him. After much persuation, Biodun reportedly took the crowd to where he laid the remains of his younger brother. On closer look, a deep cut, was discovered in the late Olawale’s neck and forehead.

How I killed my brother

A mild drama reportedly unfolded as Biodun, according to eye witnesses, started behaving like someone that was mentally ill,following his incoherent statement. But at a point, he reportedly confessed to have stabbed Olawale while he was sleeping.

The neighbour who claimed to have seen Biodun dragging the body of Olawale, told Crime Guard that: “I came out at about 1 am to ease myself at the backyard, when I noticed some movements. Out of curiosity, I peeped to see who it was, only to find Biodun dragging something on the floor. When I finished from the toilet, he was returning from where he went. I noticed his hands were stained with blood and when I asked where the blood came from, he said he just killed a goat. I never suspected anything, so, I went inside to sleep. It was when I heard shout from their compound in the morning that I had to disclose what happened”

The residents who wondered why a man could go as far as taking his own brother’s life, were however not too surprised, as some of them claimed they saw it coming.

According to one Ochukwo:“It is unfortunate that Olawale died. Biodun has actually made do his threat because he had on several occasions boasted that he would be the one to kill Olalwale someday. He had stabbed him before during a fight and since then, had told several persons that he would kill him someday”.

On why nobody cared to inform the police about Biodun’s threat , the residents said they would not want a situation whereby he would come after them at the end of the day.

Crime Guard gathered that Biodun’s mother and siblings were currently not only devastated by the tragic incident but were also afraid Biodun could carry out a more dastardly act if let off the hook.

He was however, handed over to the traditional ruler of the community, who thereafter, invited the Police.